Fault localization and fiber security in optical transponders

ABSTRACT

Designs, methods, and applications for fault localization and fiber security in optical transponders is described. In one embodiment a two-way time transfer protocol or other suitable method for synchronizing clocks between distant transponders is used. The clock synchronized transponders have digital signal processing to continually detect high precision time-histories of physical layer attributes in the transmission between the two transponders. Physical layer attributes can include: state-of-polarization changes, changes in polarization-mode-dispersion, change in propagation delay, changes or loss-of-light, changes in OSNR, changes in BER between the two nodes. By recording these physical layer changes and time-stamping them information on the magnitude and estimated location of the changes can be inferred by from the time records. In one aspect the method may be used in a distributed optical sensor for monitoring trespassing events that are a risk to fiber security of an optical transmission link.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation claiming the benefit under 35 U.S.C.§120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/410,896, entitled “FAULTLOCALIZATION AND FIBER SECURITY IN OPTICAL TRANSPONDERS” filed on Mar.2, 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.Application Ser. No. 13/410,896 claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e)to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/448,835, entitled “FAULTLOCALIZATION AND FIBER SECURITY IN OPTICAL TRANSPONDERS” filed on Mar.3, 2011, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to the field of optical transmissionsystems, and more particularly to optical transceivers used in opticaltransmission systems that use analog and digital signal process (DSP)and time synchronization techniques to predict, detect, and localizefaults or other impairments to an optical fiber transmission linkresulting from damage or tampering or a transmission link that isconfigured as a distributed sensor.

Related Art

In optical fiber transmission systems it is important to be able topredict, detect, and locate faults resulting from link damage ortampering along a transmission path. There exists a variety of methodsto accomplish these tasks. For example, if a back-hoe accidently cuts atransmission fiber conduit and severs a pair of transmission fibers, thereceivers and amplifier nodes typically would have ‘loss-of-light’indicators to notify the fault. Once a fault is detected often a crew isdispatched with an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) to locatethe fiber cut and a repair crew is dispatched to fix the break. Whilethe fault itself can be detected quickly, its location cannot be easilyidentified precisely (e.g., not better than a typicalamplifier-to-amplifier distance of about 100 km) unless expensiveequipment such as an OTDR is dedicated to each link. Furthermore, ifthere are multiple transmission fiber pairs between each link thenmultiple OTDRs may be required at additional real-estate, power,maintenance and cost.

Fiber cuts result in abrupt traffic outage and is therefore immediatelynoticeable and can be located within an amplifier hut distance withsimple techniques using network management protocols that are usuallytransmitted over a dedicated communication link that is entirelydifferent (out of fiber) and operated at a different wavelength than thewavelength of the signal channels. Slowly occurring degradation intransmission quality resulting from impairments that are not easilynoticeable such as, an event of malicious tampering of an otherwisesecured transmission link by a third party for eaves dropping, are moredifficult to detect. To improve security of installed transmissionlinks, accurate and fast methods are required for detecting andprecisely locating impairments and events of tampering as soon as theyoccur.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art optical fiber transmission link100. A typical optical fiber link comprises at least two terminals 101and 102, connected by fiber links 103 (only one labeled for clarity) andrepeater or amplifier huts 104 (only one labeled for clarity) placed atpredetermined distances throughout the link. The terminals includeelectrical and optical transmission and switching equipment such astransponders, optical and electrical multiplexers, routers, memory andprocessors or computers, timing equipment, optical amplifiers, etc. Alsoshown below the terminal 101 is a simplified example of a DWDM (DenseWave Division Multiplexed) transponder. Such a transponder may include ashort reach interface 112 that goes to customer equipment such as arouter or a switch and a DWDM interface 114 that transmits a specificwavelength(s) signals across the optical fiber link.

The optical fiber link may be placed in a network including, but notlimited to a local area, a metro, a regional, or a long haul networkhaving one or more network nodes, each node further having multipleterminals and transponders. The terminals also have other signalprocessing equipment 113 that perform pre-processing and post processingfunctions such as, framing, forward error correction (FEC),multiplexing/de-multiplexing in optical and/or electrical domain,Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) compensation, and other functionsthat are well known in the art. Not shown in FIG. 1 is that there may be80 or more wavelengths that are optically multiplexed from multipletransponders to be transmitted on one fiber.

Also shown in FIG. 1 are different types of amplifier hut designs for2-fiber unidirectional system 114 a-114 c and 1-fiber bidirectionalsystem 124 a-124 c, as is known in the art. One fiber systems have someadvantages in that the propagation delay between the two terminals isidentical and 2 fiber systems have advantages in that more informationcan be transmitted. The systems 114 a and 124 a show an amplifier huthaving a traditional two-stage EDFA (Erbium Doped Fiber amplifiers) 115and 125, respectively, with mid-stage access for dispersion compensatingfiber (DCF) 116 and other devices (not shown in this view). The middlerow shows an alternate amplifier hut design 114 b and 124 b with onlyamplifiers (115 and 125, respectively) that do not need mid-span DCFsuch as those used in 100G DP-QPSK coherent transponder systems. Thebottom row shows another type of amplifier hut design 114 c and 124 chaving no amplifiers or a distributed Raman Pumped amplifier for longhaul transmission systems.

While a back-hoe near a distant amplifier hut may cut the fiber and takedown all the communication channels in a very noticeable and abrupt way,a malicious determined third party might be much more sinister in itsability to individually select one fiber to tap some of the light foreaves dropping or other malicious intentions such as spoofing orjamming. Such occurrences can happen anywhere along the fiber linkincluding at the amplifier huts. They are very difficult and expensiveto detect with technology solutions currently available.

This invention provides transponder with advanced capabilities and clocksynchronization methods that may be applied in installed DWDMtransmission links for in-situ monitoring of fault prediction,detection, and locating faults that may occur due to link damage or dueto tampering, whether inadvertent or intentional. Advantageously, themethods according to this invention do not add significantly toequipment or operational cost of the transmission system. The conceptsdescribed in this invention may also be used to create a distributedsensor application. Such sensors may be used for example in surveillanceapplications to detect and localize external events such as people orvehicles passing over a section of a fiber optic link.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the invention a method to detect faults and/ortransmission link security is provided. One particular aspect relates toapparatus and methods for synchronizing timing or clocks between twotransponders connected at two end points of an optical transmissionlink. By utilizing precise timing and having knowledge of thetransmission delay between the end terminals sophisticated algorithmdetect and locate faults resulting from natural causes or due totampering or for detecting external events where the fiber is used as adistributed sensor. Another aspect of the invention relates todetermining the total delay on a unidirectional or bidirectional fiberlink and using detected changes in that delay as an indicator oftampering. One convenient method is to include a simple low-cost two-waytime transfer (TWTT) protocol in a coherent optical transceiver byincorporating memory devices and capability for sophisticated analog andDigital Signal Processing (DSP) methods.

In one embodiment, a TWTT protocol is used to synchronize clocks locatedin transceivers at two end points of an optical fiber transmission link.The clock synchronized transceivers record a time sequence of one ormore measurements of optical link parameters. Optical link parametersinclude, but are not limited to Bit Error Ratio (BER), Optical Signal toNoise Ratio (OSNR), signal power, state of polarization, ratio of X&Ypolarization amplitudes, polarization mode dispersion (PMD), chromaticdispersion (CD), transmission delay, and more. By recording a timehistory of these link parameters in reference with a preciselysynchronized clock timing, if one or more of these parameters change inan uncharacteristic or unusual fashion (such as occurs with a fiber cutor tamper and eaves drop on a secure communication link or in an eventof trespassing over a distributed fiber sensor) a fault may be predictedor an event may be precisely localized. In one variant embodiment of thetransceiver design, a transceiver is provided with the capability todetermine a location and type of fault and transmit the information to anetwork operator.

In one variation of the invention a transceiver is provided with digitaland/or analog signal processing capabilities for performing tasks thatcorrect for signal impairments in transmission links. By processing dataobtained from the transceiver and other parts of the transmission linkand generating statistical analysis of acceptable range of impairments.Using such data, a network operator determines any anomaly in the dataand, derives important information to predict and locate a faultresulting from natural disruption or tampering, whether unintentional ormalicious.

Another aspect of this invention relates to using coherent transponderssuch as DP-QPSK, DP-QAM, or OFDM transponders that have sophisticateddigital signal processing (DSP) to correct for fiber impairments such aspolarization rotation, polarization mode dispersion, and chromaticdispersion. Such DSP algorithms inherently correct for these continuallyvarying fiber characteristics. By modifying the DSP algorithms to reportthese parameters to a processing unit, and the processing unit incombination with the previously mentioned time synchronizationalgorithms can predict, detect and precisely locate the nature andposition of natural or man-made problems that are innocent or maliciousin their intent, in near real-time or post-processing non-real-time.

In one embodiment of the invention a distributed optical sensor isprovided where a distributed optical transmission link including atleast one transponder at each end of the distributed transmission linkis configured with an embedded two way time transfer protocol that candetect and report an anomalous variation in the transmission parametersindicative of a fault or tampering, whether inadvertent or with amalicious intent. In one aspect of the invention, a distributed sensormay be used for monitoring and surveillance applications for example,monitoring a secured premise for human or vehicular trespassing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A broad framework of the invention will be better understood byreferring to the specification in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis insteadgenerally being placed upon illustrating different principles embodiedin the description of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 schematically represents a prior art fiber optical transmissionsystem including a dense wavelength division multiplex (DWDM)transponder;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a basic Two Way Time Transfer(TWTT) protocol implementation as applied in this invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram set up illustrating concept ofapplying a TWTT protocol for locating a fault along a transmission link;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a transceiver system including an ASIC witha built-in TWTT protocol system constructed in accordance with thisinvention,

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment of a coherent DWDM transceivermodule including signal processing and a built-in TWTT protocol system;and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an embodiment of a DSP architecture incorporatedin the ASIC in accordance with this invention;

DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring once again to FIG. 1, it may be envisioned that there are manyinstallation scenarios for example, local, metropolitan, regional, orlong-haul links that may be of interest to system vendors and their endcustomers who are telecommunication companies, cable operators, datacenters, government organizations, etc. The DWDM systems may use avariety of types of fiber (standard, dispersion shifted, Truewave™),different types of amplifiers (single stage, multiple stages with orwithout mid-stage access, Raman-end pumped systems, etc.), and beunidirectional or bidirectional systems as is known in the art.

This invention can be applied to any transmission link and will bedescribed in few representative embodiments. The preferred embodimentsillustrate a general broad framework of the invention, and the methodsoutlined here may be applied in different combinations, sub-combinationsand modifications in commercial and military networks for applicationsincluding, but not limited to optical communication, monitoring,surveillance, etc. In addition one aspect of this invention is notprimarily a communication system at all but can be a distributed fibersensor that is used to detect external environmental events such as aperson or vehicle crossing a fiber links or other environmentaldisturbance along a fiber link.

In transmission networks such as the one shown in FIG. 1, monitoringtasks that include time stamping, fault detection, etc. is performed bynetwork management using a dedicated channel configured separately fromthe main signal channels. One aspect of this invention is to includetiming synchronization functions in the transponders at each end of anoptical fiber transmission link such that each transponder has knowledgeof one or more synchronized clock associated with its link. In apreferred embodiment of the invention a two-way time transfer (TWTT)protocol is embedded in the transponders placed at different terminalnodes. If there is more than one transmission pair between distantterminal nodes the timing synchronization can be preferably performedfor each link or it is also possible that the timing synchronizationsystem is centralized and the information is shared on the transponderslocated at the same terminal nodes.

There are many ways to obtain synchronized clocks at distant nodes. Onepossible way is to accurately synchronize atomic clocks at a centrallocation and bring them to each terminal and have a timing networkdistribute that clock to the various transponders. Another method is tohave an external source of timing that is accessible by the distantterminal nodes, for example from GPS satellite or other RF broadcastsignal, to acquire synchronized clocks and distribute those clocks tothe various transponders.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred configuration to implement a two-way timetransfer (TWTT) protocol that may be embedded in a transponder tosynchronize clocks at each end of a transmission link. TWTT protocolsare well known in the art. A TWTT may be included in a transceiver oralternatively the TWTT can be built into a separate part of thetransponder module. The basic premise of the protocol applied in thisinvention is illustrated in two different variant forms shown as 200 aand 200 b, respectively. In the configuration illustrated in 200 a, aTWTT protocol is implemented between a local clock located at oneterminal 201 (referred as Terminal 1 or Local terminal) and a remoteclock located at a second terminal 202 (referred as Terminal 2 or Remoteterminal). To synchronize the clocks at the two ends, a time transfermodem generates a time-based waveform coherent with the timing signalsprovided by one of the clocks for example, by the clock at the Localterminal.

A time-stamped signal transmitted from Terminal 1 (Local terminal) toTerminal 2 (Remote terminal) over a link 203 is received at the Terminal2 with a propagation delay (Delay 1) corresponding to link 203. TheTerminal 2 after receiving the time-stamped signal from Terminal 1 sendsanother time-stamped signal back over a link 204 which is received witha propagation delay (Delay 2) corresponding to the link 204. The timetransfer modem at the local terminal then measures the relative timebetween, when the signal was transmitted and when the signal from theopposite side was received. The offset between the two clocks isdetermined using Equation 1.

Remote Clock Delay=(Measure_(Remote)−Measure_(Local))/2  1

where:

-   -   Measure_(Local)=Time difference measurement at the local clock        which is the difference in the time-stamped remote transmission        received at the local terminal (basically sum of measured time        at the remote clock with its Remote Clock Delay minus        propagation delay).    -   Measure_(Remote)=Time difference measurement at the remote clock        which is the difference in the time-stamped local transmission        received at the remote terminal (basically sum of measured time        at the remote clock with its Remote Clock Delay plus propagation        delay), and    -   T_(D)=propagation delay is defined as time of flight of light        from one terminal to the other.

There are various known constraints and various embodiments of TWTTprotocols. One constraint is that the propagation delay of thetransmitted signal is assumed to be the same in both directions. It maynot always be the case. If it is not the same, then there are errors intime synchronization. For example, if there is a difference of 1 meterbetween the two links (203 and 204) then the final fault/tamperinglocating algorithm will only be accurate to the order of 1 meter. Theaccuracy to which the clocks in the distant nodes are calibrated, inpart determines the accuracy of fault location. For example, assumingthat the speed of light in an optical fiber is roughly 2×10⁸ m/s if theclocks are synchronized to 10 ns, then the accuracy with which theclocks in the distant node can determine fault location is of the orderof 2 meters. For optical links including multiple fibers having lengthsbetween 10's and 1000's of kilometers, locating a fault even within 100meters is very valuable to a network operator.

A different TWTT method for synchronizing clocks between two terminalsis illustrated in the schematic 200 b at the bottom of FIG. 2. Terminal1 (Local terminal) and Terminal 2 (Remote terminal) are represented as201 and 202, respectively, by dashed boxes showing their respectiveclocks 211 and 212, and sequences of time stamps marked within therectangular boxes. The time transfer is affected by transmittingtime-stamped signal over links 203 and 204 in opposite directionsindicated by the respective arrows. In this method, it is assumed thatclock 212 is not synchronized correctly, and that it has a time errorthereby, reading a time that is ε ahead of time read by the clock 211.In this example the time transfer modem at the Local terminal 201measures the relative time between clocks 211 and 212, respectively, inthe following sequence—

-   -   At time T1, Terminal 1 transmits a time-stamped signal        indicating its clock in a specially marked frame in the outgoing        data stream to Terminal 2;    -   At time T1 plus a delay (Delay 1) equal to the propagation delay        of the link 203, Terminal 2 detects the specially marked frame        and time stamps the received signal with its clock. The Terminal        2 time stamp is equal to T1+T_(D1)+ε, where T_(D1) is the        propagation delay in the link 203, and ε represents an error if        any, in the clock 212. This information pair is sent to a        central processing unit which can be located at Terminal 1 or        Terminal 2 or elsewhere;    -   At time T2 Terminal 2 transmits a time-stamped signal indicating        its clock in a specially marked frame in the outgoing data        stream on link 204 to Terminal 1;    -   At time T2 plus a delay (Delay 2) minus ε, Terminal 1 detects        the specially marked frame and time stamps the received signal        with its clock, where Delay 2=T_(D2) is the propagation delay in        the link 204. The Terminal 1 time stamp is equal to T1+T_(D2)−ε.        The time measurement information may be sent to a central        processing unit which can be located at Terminal 1 or Terminal 2        or elsewhere.    -   A mathematical algorithm is applied to extract the estimated        Terminal 2 clock time error. This clock error is communicated to        Terminal 2's clock and used to adjust Terminal 2's clock to        synchronize to Terminal 1 clock.

This algorithm can be run once, periodically run, or continually run toensure the clocks stay synchronized to the required tolerances. Forexample if the clock synchronization error in Terminal 2 relative toTerminal 1 is very small, and T_(D1) is approximately equal to T_(D2),then the delay can be estimated as—

$\begin{matrix}{{ {{{Remote}\mspace{14mu} {Clock}\mspace{14mu} {Delay}} = {( {{{Stamp}\mspace{14mu} \# \mspace{11mu} 2} - {{Stamp}\mspace{14mu} \# \mspace{11mu} 1}} ) - ( {{{Stamp}\mspace{14mu} \# \mspace{11mu} 4} - {{Stamp}\mspace{14mu} \# \mspace{11mu} 3}} )}} \rbrack/2} = {{\lbrack {( {( {{T\; 1} + T_{D\; 1} + ɛ} ) - {T\; 1}} ) - ( {( {{T\; 2} + T_{D\; 2} - ɛ} ) - {T\; 2}} )} \rbrack/2} = {{\lbrack {( {T_{D\; 1} + ɛ} ) - ( {T_{D\; 2} - ɛ} )} \rbrack/2} = {ɛ + \frac{( {T_{D\; 1} - T_{D\; 2}} )}{2}}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

If T_(D1) and T_(D2) are approximately equal, then the error in Terminal2 clock delay is approximately equal to ε.

In is important that the stability of each Terminals' clock be very goodso that once they are synchronized the drift in clocks is very small andthe TWTT protocol does not need to run at rapid rates. Once two or moreterminals have synchronized clocks it is straightforward for eachtransmission pair to determine the time delay between them. There aremany ways to determine path delay.

For example if the clock synchronization error in Terminal 2 relative toTerminal 1 is very small, and T_(D1) is approximately equal to T_(D2),then the delay can be estimated as—

Delay=T _(D)˜[(Stamp#2−Stamp#1)+(stamp#4−Stamp#3)]/2.

FIG. 3 illustrates an application of timing synchronization by TWTTbetween a pair of transponders participating in bidirectionalcommunication system for locating a fault in a transmission link. Morespecifically, FIG. 3 shows a pair of terminals 301 and 302 serving asTerminal 1 (Local terminal) and Terminal 2 (Remote terminal),respectively. The terminals are equipped with their respective clocksthat may be synchronized by implementing TWTT as described in theprevious section, or using other methods described earlier. Theterminals are at a distance of D km apart and are connected with two-waylinks 303 and 304, respectively.

In one exemplary scenario, a fault occurs at a distance D_(F) fromTerminal 1 which is shown as a broken line 305 in FIG. 3. The fault mayoccur due to a fiber cut or any other event such as, malicioustampering, or in a distributed sensor application it could be a person,vehicle, or some environmental disturbance near the fiber at location305, etc. If each transponder is recording a time history of events thatare at least as long as the propagation delay T_(D) (or preferably muchlonger), then the network management system can estimate the location ofa fault according to a sequence outlined below:

The time at which a loss of the light (or any alteration) is detected atthe Remote terminal (Terminal 2) will be prior to the time at which thesame event will be detected at the Local terminal (Terminal 1) since thetime the light has to travel from the cut to Terminal 2 is shorter thanthe time the light has to travel from the cut to Terminal 1. It must benoted that this may change depending upon the distance of the fault fromTerminal 1 or Terminal 2. In the case of a bidirectional fibertransmission system, the path lengths are nearly identical. Forunidirectional systems there may be slight errors as noted earlier butthere is still sufficient accuracy in this approach to localize thefault over a long link such as the one shown in FIG. 3.

A simplified expression for fault localization in this example assumingmatched fiber delays and a perfect simultaneous unidirectional fibertransmission system is as follows.

D _(F) =D×[1+(T _(L) −T _(R))/(T _(D))]/2  3

where—

D_(F) is the distance between the fault location and the Local terminal301, D is total link distance, T_(L) is the time when transmission lossis recorded at the Local terminal (Terminal 1), T_(R) is the time whentransmission loss is recorded at the Remote terminal (Terminal 2), andT_(D) is the total propagation delay assumed to be the same for the twotransmission links 303 and 304. In this example it is assumed that theclocks do not have any error and they are synchronized using the methodsoutlined earlier.

To illustrate the principle of fault location in the example shown inFIG. 3, it is assumed that D=1000 km. Therefore total propagation delaywould be about (1000 km)/(2×10⁸ m/s)=5 ms where the term in thedenominator is the velocity of light in the transmission fiber. Assumingthat the fault occurs at a distance D_(F)≅900 km,

Distance  of  the  fault  from  Terminal  1  (in  km) = 1000 × [1 + ((4.5  ms + Time  of  Cut) − (0.5  ms + Time  of  Cut))/5.0  ms]/2 = 900  km.

It must be noted that the time at which loss of the light (or an unusualchange in the transmission parameter) is recorded at the terminals arenot the actual time when the fault occurred because the time at whichthe fault is recorded at the respective terminals also include apropagation delay that is proportional to the distance between the faultand the respective terminals, which needs to be factored into the faultlocation estimation.

From this example, those skilled in the art will be able to recognizethat in general, the time at which a terminal detects the fault is equalto the time at which the fault occurred and a delay that is proportionalto the distance of the fault from the respective terminal. Knowing thetotal propagation delay of the transmission link without the fault, andby processing of the recorded time history in combination with therecorded event time at each terminal, a network operator can estimatethe proportional delay to the fault location from the respectiveterminal for estimating a fault location.

The above sections illustrate methods for determining the fault locationby synchronizing clocks at each end of the link and recording a timehistory at each terminal, at least for a period that is as long as orlonger than the propagation delay in the link. The accuracy to which afault location is determined depends on the accuracy of clocksynchronization and, by accurately sensing and recording of the time aloss in transmission is detected at the transponders at the two ends ofa transmission link. While the concept is explained using an example ofa fiber cut, the same concept may be extended to other types of faultssuch as malicious tampering or variations related to change inenvironmental parameters in distributed fiber sensor applications thatdo not involve a complete fiber cut.

In a variant embodiment recording the time history of transmissionevents also provides a means to detect a fault resulting from tampering,whether inadvertent or malicious. More specifically, an accuratemeasurement and recording of any transmission parameter for example apropagation delay, over a substantive period of time can generate astatistical measure of acceptable range of propagation delay. At a latertime any substantial deviation from the acceptable range would indicatethat a malicious tampering to insert tapping equipment in thetransmission link may have occurred. Thus knowing the acceptable rangeof total delay and any substantial changes in that delay value, may bean important indicator in monitoring security of the transmission link.

There are many other methods and algorithms that are well known in theart and may be used to perform clock synchronization. These includesynchronization to external clocks such as a RF or microwave orsatellite clock, as well as algorithms that include in-fiber orout-of-fiber feedback loops. Similarly, there are other methods andalgorithms that are known in the art for estimating fault location bydetecting loss of transmission at both terminals by using knowledge ofthe time history and the synchronized clocks. In a prior arttransmission system most of these operations are achieved by networkmanagement on a separate and dedicated network management channel. Moreimportantly, the data is not processed continuously or at set intervals,unless a loss of transmission is detected and reported by the affectednodes.

One distinguishing aspect of this invention is to provide additionalfunctionalities in the transceivers to continuously and/or periodicallyperform time synchronization, clock delay measurements so as to detectfault and estimate a position of the fault. Referring back to FIG. 1,many types of DWDM transponders are currently used in a transmissionlink. The method described in this invention is particularly suited fortransmission links that use adaptive receivers in transponders thatemploy optical coherent receiver technology and have analog or digitalsignal processing (DSP) technology built in the receiver to correct forimpairments in fiber optic channels. There are many types of coherenttransponders including, but not limited to QPSK (Quadrature Phase ShiftKeying), DP-QPSK (Dual-Polarization-Quadrature Phase Shift Keying), BPSK(Binary Phase Shift Keying), DP-BPSK (Dual Polarization-Binary PhaseShift Keying), QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), DP-QAM (DualPolarization-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), OFDM (Optical FrequencyDivision Multiplexing), DP-OFDM (Dual-Polarization Optical FrequencyDivision Multiplexing) and others.

For illustrative purposes, FIG. 4 shows one example of a DP-QPSKtransceiver that may be adapted for implementing the clocksynchronization and fault location method described in the earliersections. However, the basic concepts of this invention apply equally toall types of coherent and non-coherent transceivers. The transceivershown in FIG. 4 comprises an optical transmitter section 410 and anoptical receiver section 420, respectively. For clarity and ease ofdiscussion, the two sections are shown separated with a dotted line inthis exemplary embodiment. In practice, the transmitter and receiversections need not be so markedly separated on an actual transceiverboard.

The transmitter section receives an electrical signal 411 from a one ormore transmission system component such as, a transport switch, a routerline card, etc. The electrical signal is encoded by an encoder 412 usingsoft-decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) coding in thisparticular embodiment. In other embodiments, no FEC code, or other typesof codes may be used. A 10:4 serializer represented as 414, serializesthe output of the SD-FEC for example, into four 30G streams ofelectrical signals in this particular embodiment. However, it should notbe construed as a limiting factor and other data rate may be selected aswell. The transmitter may optionally include (not shown in this view)electrical amplifiers and multichannel Digital to Analog Converters(DAC) for imparting a desired amplitude and wave shape to the electricalsignal so as to optimally modulate an optical source 415 which in thisexample is a laser. The SD-FEC encoder, the 10:4 serializer or themultichannel digital to analog converter (DAC) functions may optionallybe performed in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) 422which is located on the receiver side in this embodiment. The ASIC is apart of the receiver that performs many sensing operations along withimplementing the TWTT and fault location tasks in this specific example.

The four streams of electrical signals from the serializer afteramplification and wave shaping are sent to two separate QPSK (QuadraturePhase Shift Keying) electro-optical or other non-electro-optical typemodulators 413. A transmitter laser 415 is optically connected to themodulators 413 and the two respectively modulated optical signals arecombined using a polarization combiner 416. The combined optical outputsignal is sent to the output link 417. Although the invention isdescribed in reference with a DP-QPSK modulation format, the inventionmay be implemented equally effectively for other modulation formats suchas, a DP-QAM, OFDM or a DP-BPSK, etc.

The receiver section 420 receives a DP-QPSK modulated optical signalfrom the link 421. It is noted that the modulation format selected todemonstrate the principles of the receiver is only exemplary and othermodulation format may be used. The received signal 421 is split in apolarization splitter 426 into horizontal and vertical polarizationcomponents. The two optical output signals are sent to a 90 degreehybrid and photo detector module 423 that is well known in the art andwill not be described further. A local oscillator (LO) laser 425 is alsocoupled to the 90 degree hybrid module such that the 90 degree hybridreceives the optical signal and an optical reference (LO) and combinesthem to produce two signals with different polarizations each with anin-phase and a quadrature differential (or single ended) optical outputsthat are received by a photodetector.

From the two optical output signals the 90 degree hybrid and photodetectors generate four signals to be input to an amplifier block 424including four electrical amplifiers. The amplified signals are furtherprocessed in an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 422. Aswill be described shortly, the multitude of functions performed in theASIC include, but are not limited to chromatic dispersion correction,polarization mode dispersion correction, descrambling of polarizationaxes, symbol timing recover, carrier frequency and phase estimation,SD-FEC decoding, and more.

The operation of the transceiver including devices 410 and 420 ismonitored and controlled by the device control unit 430 (connections notshown for clarity). The device control unit may also perform dataprocessing for example, generating time stamps, logging timingsequences, timing history of events, running algorithms for estimatingclock delays and fault locations are some of them. Although theinvention is described using DP-QPSK data format and proceduresassociated with that particular format, the principles are equallysuited for other architectures used for QAM or OFDM or BPSK and are wellknown to persons having ordinary skill in the art.

The ASIC 422 shown in FIG. 4 is one of the critical components of thetransceiver in this particular embodiment of the invention. While theASIC is shown to be a part of the receiver section 420, it maypreferably include parts of the transmitter logic in it as well (forexample the SD-FEC encoder and 10:4 serializer and/or DAC and ADCfunction). There are many ways to design the functionality of the ASICfor the particular modulation characteristics and desired systemscharacteristics. Generally speaking one primary function for the ASICand its inherent DSP processing is to demodulate the received opticalsignal and impose modulation on the transmitted optical signal. The ASICalso includes components to provide additional functionality thatinclude, but are not limited to the ADC, bulk dispersion compensation,Polarization de-multiplexing (DMUX)/Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD)(also called an adaptive equalizer), SD-FEC, phase synchronization,frequency synchronization, OSNR estimation, BER estimation, andserializer/deserializer modules.

FIG. 5 represents a schematic view of basic operations included withinthe ASIC 522. Various functions performed within the ASIC are controlledand sequenced by the ASIC controller 520 which also includes dataprocessing capability that are required for example in clocksynchronization, etc. Referring now simultaneously to FIGS. 4 and 5, thefour outputs from the 90 degree hybrid and photo detector shown in FIG.4 collectively referred as 570 in FIG. 5, are input to high speedanalog-to-digital converters (ADC) labeled as 511-514 that arecollectively shown as 574 in FIG. 5. An ADC clock 572 is used toproperly sequence the four components received from the photo detectorprior to sending the outputs of the ADCs 574 to a pre-processing block578 to remove imperfection resulting from transmission impairments thatmay have been introduced by some of the optical components in thetransmit or receive chain.

The pre-processing block 578 performs a variety of functions which mayinclude, but are not limited to transmit/receive frequency tracking,interpolation of new bits between original bits, optional estimation andadjustment of the two received polarizations, and other functions suchas . . . decimation, phase recovering, etc. The output of the preprocessing block 578 is sent to a bulk chromatic dispersion module 586including elements 501-504 that remove on a per channel basis, themajority of the chromatic dispersion that occurs during transmission.

The output of the chromatic dispersion module 586 is sent to aPolarization Demultiplexer/Polarization Mode Dispersion (PolarizationDMUX/PMD) module collectively shown as 594 (also known as an AdaptiveEqualizer in the art), including individual elements 521-524 to operateon four streams of signals. This module descrambles the transmitter andreceiver polarization alignment, optionally estimates the inputstate-of-polarization and amplitudes of each polarization, doesadditional fine tuning to the chromatic dispersion, and compensates forpolarization mode dispersion.

The output of the Polarization DMUX/PMD module 594 is sent into a postprocessing block 598 which corrects other imperfections in the signalsuch as carrier frequency error, carrier phase error, symbol timingoffset, non-linear compensation and other functions before being sent toa SD-FEC decoder 516. Each of the sub-modules is in communication withthe ASIC controller 520. Components outside the ASIC 522 such as, thedevice controller 430 (FIG. 4) communicate with and control the ASIC 522either through the ASIC controller 520 or through direct data busses(not shown in this view).

The examples described above in reference with FIGS. 4 and 5 depict acoherent receiver architecture designed for DP-QPSK modulation formatand this invention includes this architecture and obvious extensions ofthis architecture for single-mode fiber transceivers or multi-mode fibertransceivers and other types of modulation formats mentioned earlierthat are known to those skilled in the art. The principles describedusing these exemplary coherent optical receiver designs are incorporatedin a transmission system for implementing clock synchronization usingTWTT protocol described earlier in reference with FIGS. 2 and 3 forfault location and fiber security in transponders. Note the actual TWTTdigital logic can be located inside the ASIC or using a separate digitalcircuit outside the ASIC but inside the transponder module, or can bedone using logic outside the module.

FIG. 6 shows some of the salient features of a transmission system 600including transponders that are adapted to be used for faultlocalization. More specifically, a transmitter 602 is configured withintegral transmitter processing functions that perform time stamp andtime synchronization operations described earlier in reference withFIGS. 2 and 3. One or more optical channels collectively represented as604 may have natural impairments that may occur in normal course oftransmission such as, chromatic dispersion, polarization modedispersion, non-linear effects etc., or impairments arising due toman-made interruptions that may result from tampering, unintentionallyor maliciously or simply due to external environmental conditions (avehicle passing over a fiber or other man-made or natural disturbancenear the fiber).

A typical coherent optical receiver 600 includes various analog ordigital signal processing elements to estimate and correct forimpairments. Impairments that are estimated and corrected for in areceiver include, but are not limited to chromatic dispersion,state-of-polarization, polarization-mode-dispersion, estimating ofoptical signal to noise ratio (OSNR), estimation of received opticalsignal power, channel bit-error-rate, received optical frequency, etc.There are other possible signal channel characteristics that are wellknown in the art, may be estimated and corrected using other methodsknow in the art.

One important aspect of this invention is not just that the receivercorrects for channel impairments but the receiver is also configured toreport the state of channel corrections or predict or detect innocent ormalicious security threats or faults that occur in the transmission linkas has been described in reference with FIG. 3 (loss of transmissionoccurred due to fiber cut). The coherent optical receiver configuredwith sophisticated analog and/or DSP capabilities according to thisinvention detect and report impairments other than loss of light. Moreimportantly, using the timing history, the receiver also determines thelocation of the impairments.

Returning to FIG. 3, assume a transmission link between Terminal 1 andTerminal 2 is stressed at an instant of time such that the loss inoptical power from its normal permissible range is reported. This is notdetected as a simple loss-of-light but may reflect in the OSNR orbit-error-ratio estimator. Following the procedure described earlier inreference with FIG. 3, by recording the history of a particularparameter for example OSNR or bit error ratio, using synchronized clocksfrom transponders at two ends of the link where the fiber stressoccurred, the location of the fiber stress is detected and located.

Deterioration in quality of transmission due to stress in the link mayoccur due to natural or malicious event. One common example of amalicious event is where an eaves dropper splices into the communicationstream along the optical fiber. There are many traditional ways this canbe accomplished for example, by gaining access to an in-line amplifieroutput or mid-stage access or uncovering the actual fiber transmissioncable and carefully pulling back the protective jackets and buffers andfiling down the cladding to evanescently tap into the core. Suchtampering is very hard to detect in a transmission system using atraditional transceiver thereby, rendering the communication not verysecure.

However using aspects of this invention and in particular, a speciallydesigned transceiver, the communication channel may be made more secure.Advantageously, the aspects of this invention may be implemented intraditional transceiver as well. For example, it is well known that if asingle-mode optical fiber is tampered with, or attempted to file downthe cladding to expose the core, dramatic changes occur in the state ofpolarization and other aspects of the transmitted light that may bemeasured in a coherent receiver designed according to this invention. Inan attempt to eaves drop, if a person tries to gain access to the lightin the fiber core the state of polarization will fluctuate drasticallyin a random fashion than fluctuations that occur in a normaltransmission environment. Such changes may not be reflected easily in atraditional transmission link.

Using a coherent optical receiver configured with DSP capabilitiesdescribed in reference with FIGS. 4 and 5 the state of polarization andoptionally, other optical receiver parameters and functions arecontinuously recorded in a memory 608. The parameters may be processedin the receiver processor to determine unusual variations and deviationsfrom permissible limits, or it may be processed at a remote processingunit for analysis. Any unusual changes in parameters in the opticalreceiver may be recorded and reported to a system controller inreal-time or quasi real time, to detect and locate the source ofimpairment.

In one embodiment of the invention algorithms are continually run todetect natural or malicious changes to the optical channel(s). In theabove example, if the state of receiver polarization begins rapidlychanging and is statistically distinct from that normal backgroundfluctuations an alarm can be propagated to the network management system(not shown). Detecting a natural or malicious event according to thisinvention is extremely valuable to the network operators. If an on-setof these fluctuations is distinct and the recorded time history is longenough the location determining algorithms described earlier inreference with FIGS. 2 and 3 may be used to determine exact nature andlocation of the natural or malicious intrusion.

There are many other aspects of this invention that enhance security andfault detection and localization. Some examples follow. If a maliciousattempt to insert a section of fiber in order to split off a signal ismade the present invention offers various options to detect this. Anyinterruption of the signal would trigger changes in themeasured/monitored parameters including a loss-of-light, loss-of-power,loss-of-OSNR, an increase in BER and many other parameters. However itis possible that other events could mask the outage that occurs during amalicious fiber tampering for purposes of eaves dropping, spoofing, orjamming.

In one embodiment propagation delay is used to detect network tampering.For example, once the link has been restored a comparison of propagationdelay values before and after an outage or, more generally, anysignificant change in propagation delay may be used as a metric to setan alarm to notify a network operator. For example a malicious user mayinsert equipment in-line on the fiber but such equipment may increasethe total propagation delay and be detectable using the methods of thisinvention.

Another aspect of this invention is that often there is multiple fiberbetween two terminal nodes that are all carrying information fromTerminal 1 to Terminal 2. In this situation it is not necessary thateach link have the timing and fault detection and prediction circuitrymentioned above. For example, if a total fiber cable cut is the majorsource of concern for the network operator then just one duplex fibercommunication pair may need this technology. In that situation it is noteven necessary that the particular fiber pair be conveying externalinformation (e.g. Data In and Data Out in FIG. 6). The fault detectioncircuitry could be optimized in size, cost, and functions if it did nothave to carry data traffic. As described earlier, the timingsynchronization that provides for optional fault location can beperformed just once and distributed to all the transceivers or eachtransceiver can perform timing synchronization.

Another important aspect of this invention is particularly applicable inembodiments having multiple fibers between terminal pairs. If there aremany fiber pairs transmitting information between terminals then a goodset of statistical data can be recorded on each fiber pair. If there isa dramatic change in one fiber pair relative to the remaining otherfiber pairs (which are undergoing normal environmental changes) at anyinstant of time, may be indicative of malicious tampering with aspecific fiber.

One important aspect to note is that the existing data communicationtransceiver hardware may be built with at least a few additionalcomponents such as memory, a processor and a controller to perform timesynchronization protocol (e.g. as shown in FIG. 4). Many transceiversused in coherent as well as non-coherent detection perform a myriad oftasks to correct impairments such as chromatic dispersion, PMD, etc.resulting from transmission. Much of the circuitry for correcting forfiber impairments may simply be modified to for reporting the currentstate of the transmission fiber impairments and changes in the state ofthe transmission fiber impairments at a marginal additional cost. Theadded value to the network operator in determining and locating a faultat very little additional cost to the transceiver and system design isextremely beneficial. Furthermore, by having fault detection on eachfiber pair the security of every fiber pair in increased in the event ofa malicious intruder.

Furthermore, the transceiver capability of acquiring and processingreceiver parameter data over a long time generates statisticalinformation and data patterns of various optical impairments that may behelpful in detecting and locating fault in the absence of multiplefibers between transponders. For example, the processing unit 608generates statistical data regarding individual and joint probabilitystatistics, densities, autocorrelation functions, and cross correlationfunctions under normal conditions. Acceptable bounds for probability ofmissed detection and probability of false alarms can be built up overtime and when at any instant of time those thresholds exceed, an alarmcan be sent to the network operator and the fault localization processcan be run and reported as well.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, if all the fibers are cut between a pair ofterminals then out-of-fiber communication channel is needed to run thefault localization algorithm. As it is know it is quite common to havean out-of-band network management control plan and this plan can be usedto perform the fault localization algorithm in the event of a completefiber cut. One aspect of this invention is to use a TWTT protocol buildinto the optical transceivers and uses the time synchronized clocks toprovide other service beyond fault isolation. An example could be thatit is providing timing information for an external sensor that isperforming localization of a RF signal or providing clocks for runningother telecommunication equipment.

In an embodiment of the invention, a fiber network may be used as adistributed sensor to detect variation in environmental activities forsecurity and surveillance applications. For example, an embeddedtransmission network in an area may be monitored continuously orperiodically, for changes in transmission parameters using methodsdescribed earlier in reference with FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6. By measuringdifferent transmission parameters of the transmission network, astatistical data base may be generated and an acceptable range ofparameters may be determined and communicated between one or moretransponders located at the end points of each transmission link usingTWTT protocols. The Any unusual data patterns which may be indicative oftrespassing for example by a vehicular or a human activities, can thenbe tracked to a geographical location using the methods described inthis invention.

While a broad framework of the present invention is described in termsof certain exemplary preferred embodiments, it will be readilyunderstood and appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that itis not so limited, and that many combinations and sub-combinations ofthe preferred embodiments may be configured within the scope of theinvention as hereinafter claimed. Accordingly, the scope of theinvention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for application in an opticaltransponder connected to one end of an optical transmission link, saidapparatus comprising: a transceiver including: an optical transmitter; aclock; a time transfer modem wherein; and at least one optical receiver,wherein the transceiver is connected to a controller, a memory deviceand a processor, such that the time transfer modem generates atime-based waveform coherent with the timing signals provided by the atleast one clock for synchronizing the at least one clock to a secondclock placed in a second optical transponder connected at another end ofthe transmission link.
 2. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein thecontroller, the memory element and the processor are co-located with thetransceiver.
 3. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein, a two way timetransfer protocol is built into the transceiver, such that the clocksynchronization is performed using said two way time transfer protocoleffected by exchanging one or more time-stamped signals between theoptical transponder and the second optical transponder, and using astored two way time transfer algorithm to measure a delay between the atleast one clock and the second clock.
 4. The apparatus as in claim 1wherein, the clock synchronization is performed by external means, saidexternal means including an atomic clock, an RF clock or a GPS clock. 5.The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein, the at least one optical receiveris a coherent optical receiver.
 6. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein,the transceiver records a time history of transmission parameters of thetransmission link synchronized with the at least one clock using a twoway time transfer protocol, to detect and locate a fault in thetransmission link.
 7. The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein thetransmission link is a unidirectional link or a bidirectional link. 8.The apparatus as in claim 1 wherein, said optical transponder and thesecond optical transponder each include one or more additionaltransceivers, each one or more transceiver further having a respectiveclock, wherein clocks belonging to each one or more transceivers in theoptical transponder are synchronized using a reference timing signalcoherent with the at least one clock, and clocks belonging to each oneor more transceivers in the second optical transponder are synchronizedusing a reference timing signal coherent with the second clock,respectively.
 9. The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein each additionaltransceiver is connected to a respective end of one of additionaltransmission links.
 10. A fault detection apparatus for application inan optical transponder connected to one end of an optical transmissionlink, said apparatus comprising: a transceiver connected to acontroller, a memory device and a processor, said transceiver including;an optical transmitter; a clock; a time transfer modem; and at least oneoptical receiver, wherein the time transfer modem generates a time-basedwaveform coherent with the timing signals provided by the at least oneclock for synchronizing the at least one clock to a second clock placedin a second optical transponder connected at another end of thetransmission link, the transceiver in response to a control signal fromthe controller measures, records and stores in the memory device, a timehistory of one or more transmission parameters in reference with saidsynchronized clocks, and the processor processes the recorded dataaccording to pre-determined algorithms to determine a fault locationalong the transmission link.
 11. The fault detection apparatus as inclaim 10, wherein, a two way time transfer protocol is built into thetransceiver, such that the clock synchronization is performed using saidtwo way time transfer protocol effected by exchanging one or moretime-stamped signals between the optical transponder and the secondoptical transponder, and using a stored two way time transfer algorithmto measure a delay between the at least one clock and the second clock.12. The fault detection apparatus as in claim 10 wherein, the clockslocated in the optical transponder and the second optical transponder,respectively, are previously synchronized at a central location, whereinsaid synchronization is effected using atomic clock, an RF clock or aGPS clock.
 13. The fault detection apparatus as in claim 10, wherein theoptical receiver is a coherent optical receiver.
 14. The fault detectionapparatus as in claim 13, wherein the one or more transmissionparameters measured in the coherent optical receiver include a state ofpolarization, rate of change in the state of polarization, PMD, OSNR,BER, optical amplitudes, propagation delay, or a pre-determinedcombination thereof.
 15. The fault detection apparatus as in claim 13,wherein the signal processor is a digital signal processor, such thatthe coherent optical receiver and the digital signal processor areconfigured to generate, statistics of the one or more transmissionparameters to determine an acceptable range of said transmissionparameters, detect and report any anomalous change in the one or moretransmission parameters, and run stored algorithms for applying two waytime transfer protocols between the synchronized clocks to predict ordetect the nature and a location of the fault along the transmissionlink.
 16. The fault detection apparatus as in claim 13, wherein thesignal processor is a digital signal processor, such that the coherentoptical receiver and the digital signal processor are configured togenerate statistics of impairments in the one or more transmissionparameters, analyze data of the impairments, and apply desiredcorrections to the impairments.
 17. The fault detection apparatus as inclaim 10 wherein, the transmission link includes multiple fiber opticaltransmission paths, each transmission path further including arespective transceiver at each end of the path, wherein at least onetransceiver in each transmission path includes a coherent opticalreceiver, and wherein anomalous changes in the transmission parametersmeasured in any one transmission path is utilized to predict, detect andlocate a fault or a security threat.
 18. The apparatus as in claim 10,wherein the transmission link is a unidirectional link or abidirectional link.
 19. An apparatus for application in a distributedoptical transmission link, said transmission link including one or moreoptical transponders located at each end of said transmission link, eachsaid transponder further comprising: a transceiver including: an opticaltransmitter; a clock; a time transfer modem wherein; and at least onecoherent optical receiver, wherein each transceiver is connected to acontroller, a memory device and a processor, such that the time transfermodem generates a time-based waveform coherent with the timing signalsprovided by the at least one clock for synchronizing the at least oneclock to one or more clocks placed in a respective optical transponderconnected at one or more ends of the transmission link, said clocksynchronization is effected through a two way time transfer protocolembedded in one or more transponders, and each coherent optical receivermeasures, stores and reports optical transmission parameters inreference with said synchronized clocks, and through a two way timetransfer algorithm, and exchanges the reported parameters between one ormore optical transponders, such that the distributed transmission linkfunctions as a distributed optical sensor.
 20. The apparatus as in claim19, wherein the distributed optical sensor is configured to detect andlocate faults using embedded two way time transfer algorithms in one ormore optical transponders by detecting anomalous changes in thetransmission parameters resulting from variations in environmentalfactors and tampering, and wherein the transmission links areunidirectional or bidirectional.